Kikyo's Lament
by Sparkly Faerie
Summary: After the final battle with Naraku, Kikyo takes the remainder of her time on this earth to reflect on the hanyou Inuyasha and his pack... particularly the girl. Her reincarnation. Kagome. Oneshot.


**Ok, so I wanted to try something different. This is from Kikyo's POV, just after the final battle with Naraku. **

**This story was written when I was in a fairly dreary state of mind. Does it show?

* * *

**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha. But don't worry… even if I DID own it, it wouldn't end like this.

**Summary: **After the final battle, Kikyo takes the remainder of her time on this earth to reflect on the hanyou Inuyasha and his pack… particularly the girl, her reincarnation. Kagome. Oneshot.

**Rating:** K+ There's nothing bad in here, only death, which I think ma be hard for younger readers to comprehend. But I think that everyone can understand it here.

**Genre:** Tragedy

* * *

**Kikyo's Lament **

A small feather drifted in the wind in the golden air. It danced to it's own melody as it was caught up in the breeze, slowly drifting out of sight towards the sunset.

I watched it as it slowly became one with the light from the setting sun and blinked as it disappeared from view. I let out a sigh and turned to my lone companion; a small fox youkai no higher than my thigh. He had soft red hair and dull green eyes that betrayed his inner turmoil. His hair, for once, was out and fluttering around his shoulders in the breeze. He looked as numb as I felt.

The breeze teased his hair into flying out in front of him. I could feel a few small strands of my own hair attempting to free themselves from my braid. I decided that, for once, I would allow my hair to obey it's own will. Reaching up behind me, I gave a small tug on the ribbon that contained it, and the dark brown tresses picked up the silent melody of the wind, dancing slowly as it fanned out in front of me, blocking my view of the small kit.

We stayed in silence, that kit and I. There was nothing that could be said at that time. We had engaged in the final battle with our archenemy only hours before; and we had come out alive. The shock was still there – I had yet to process that piece of information. Naraku was dead – we were alive.

Or, should I say, the kit was alive.

The girl, my reincarnation, had perished first. In a fit of rage, Inuyasha had slain the hanyou Naraku, but not before the monk and exterminator had been slain. Spent from his exertions, Inuyasha had collapsed and succumbed to the sweet embrace of death, feeling that he had accomplished his goal. He had, with the help of the girl, restored the Shikon no Tama to its former glory just moments before her death.

And me? I was already dead from fifty years prior. The kit was the only one left.

I rested my hand softly upon his head as he whimpered; the first sound that had been made by either of us since Inuyasha's passing a few hours ago. It was all too surreal. The coolness of the Tama rested comfortably in my hand as I caressed it with my thumb. I felt the kit incline his head, as if to look at me. However, I did not meet his gaze. I could not bear it.

Many think me cold, cruel, and unfeeling. My body was that of clay, but my heart, my soul, was that of a woman. A woman who, in life, had wished for nothing but to be happy. That one chance that I had once had at happiness had been violently torn from me, just as my living flesh had been torn from my bones by an impostor of my love all those years ago. I was foolish to have believed the deception.

And now they had all paid for it. They had all paid for my mistake.

I gazed back over my shoulder at their bodies. The shinidamachu hovered over them, waiting for my signal. As soon as I gave them permission, they would extract their souls and transport them into the clay vessel that was my body. If it were anyone else, it would have already been done.

But this… this was different.

I could not do it. They had fought so hard for something that should have never been on their shoulders. It should have been me that had taken the blast of energy to the chest; not the girl. My body – my clay body – could have sustained the damage. Granted, I would have been rendered useless afterwards, but it may have, ultimately, prevented their deaths.

My thumb ran over the cool, rounded surface of the Tama once again. This could have been so easily prevented.

I watched the feather with half-lidded eyes as my hair fluttered out around me. It was so dainty, yet so carefree. I could not help but think of the girl. She had grown in the five years that they had searched for the Tama. She had become more and more like me as I was in life that it scared me. She truly was my reincarnation. It was not just the physical similarities that we shared – she had my character.

And yet, she was herself. I could see why Inuyasha had fallen for her. She had possessed many qualities that I could not have hoped to possess in my time on this earth. She was much kinder than I had ever been She was accepting of Inuyasha's half-demon, half-human heritage; I was not. Human or youkai, or half of each, she had taken them all under her wing and loved them – something I was never capable of doing.

I had wanted Inuyasha as a human man.

But she… she had wanted him the way he was. Perhaps it had something to do with her time, where there were no demons. She did not understand the consequences of mating a demon – though now she would never have the chance to. It was a shame; she would have made the perfect mate for Inuyasha. He quiet compassion complimented his brash attitude.

The kit beside me squirmed a little. My eyes flickered to him momentarily. What to do with him? I could not keep him with me – I was not to be in this world any longer. With the living half of my soul – the girl – dead, there was no power to sustain my life force, feeble as it was. The girl had been the source of my power. For, as long as she were in the land of the living, my clay vessel would have been able to use her own powers to command the soul collectors to do my bidding.

Now, my influence over them was weakening. I took a step back from the edge of the cliff, leaving the kit behind as I slowly, agonizingly slowly, made my way to their bodies. I had arranged them so that they lay next to each other, perfectly still and tranquil in their peace. Each of their faces was pale and cold to the touch. They had been dead for some hours now.

The kit had followed me and was now burying his face into the crook of the girl's arm. He whimpered, before the tears came. I could not blame the child, for I, too, felt like weeping. They had all been so young – the two hundred year old hanyou was still young by demon standards. They had not deserved the demise that they had endured.

The kit had lost his parents all over again.

When he had finished with the girl, he had slowly tottered over to the body of Inuyasha, whom I had placed very near the girl's body. I knew that, in death, he would wish to be close to her. It would have been important to him to know that he could be close to her as he wished he could have been in life, though he made a point of making a scene every time they were close. He, though, had secretly relished in those close moments, as he had relayed to me in one of our previous meetings.

The kit nuzzled the hanyou's lifeless cheek. I recognised the signs. He, no doubt, would have done this for his own father when he had passed. I had not realised, nor do I think any of their small pack had realised, that the kit had looked up to Inuyasha as a father. I allowed a small smile of sadness to grace my features as I watched the tender moment.

The kit was now shaking with tears. I knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his small back. Without thought, he turned to me and buried himself in my embrace. Startled, I slowly wrapped my arms around him, smoothing his hair and making gentle shushing noises. I closed y eyes as I began to rock his small, trembling body back and forth, the only way I knew how to comfort a weeping child.

When he had calmed down, I picked him up in my arms, cradling his small frame against my own like an infant. I kissed his forehead and smoothed his bangs, whispering gentle words for his ears to detect. I leant over and, slowly, joined the girl's and Inuyasha's hands, manually lacing their fingers together in a grip that would last for eternity.

I fingered the Tama momentarily, before softly nudging it in between their palms. His large hand covered it entirely, and her small hand cupped the precious, deadly jewel. Between the two, it was completely sheltered.

I covered their hands with one of my own – my other was supporting the kit, who was now watching with watery eyes. A small pink glow emanated from the point where our hands all joined, and I knew that it was working. Within seconds, the jewel was gone; absorbed into their bodies. No demon would ever get hold of it again. Even in death, they would be the protectors of the jewel.

I stood, placing the kit on the ground once again. He looked up at me in confusion. I simply pointed towards the village in which I was born – the village where my sister lived. He seemed to get the message, scampering off into the night, alone and frightened. He looked back one time at his dead companions, before glancing at me. I gave him a small nod, and he disappeared into the night.

I let out a sigh as I felt my clay body crumbling into nothing. I could see small tufts of wind picking up on the fine dust that my extremities were becoming. The burial soil that had made my body was drifting away with the wind…

A light was the next thing I saw. Why was I still seeing? I was supposed to have passed into Hell. I forced my eyes open.

There, hovering above me, were four anxious faces. As soon as I had opened my eyes, each of them gave a relieved smile. The two women had stood me up onto my feet, and I took a look around. Looking back at them, I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes.

"Where… where am I?" I whispered.

"You're in Paradise." Inuyasha whispered softly, taking my hand with a serene smile. The girl, Kagome, took his other. Sango, the exterminator, took my other hand, and Miroku, the monk, took her other. Together, they led me through the white light that was Paradise.

"Thank you, Kikyo." Miroku murmured.

"We found peace." Sango whispered from behind me. Kagome gave me a true, contented smile.

"And we're glad that you found it with us."

* * *

OMG! I can't believe I killed them all! (sniffle) I seriously can't. 

**Well, review? Tell me how much you hate me for killing them! Or not. Up to you.**


End file.
